bart (450)

Software patents are evil

So Poland blocked acceptance of a bill for software patents in Europe, for which I am ever so grateful. Software patents are evil. Think about it: about anything that is in any course for computer science, can be patented. It's just a matter of who applies for it first. As a net result, indepentent software houses are doomed, only the really big companies (Microsoft, Adobe) can ever hope to gain enough leverage in patents to get the other of their back ("You let go of me if I let you be"). As independent software house, you'll just be threading on one software patent after the other, making it impossible to do anything at all.

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The idea behind a patent is that a small brilliant inventor is able to register their idea, gain protection, but after a period of time the idea becomes open. The basic principle was created to stop inventors taking their ideas to the grave, while allowing them to get some money from the period of exclusivity.

The problem is that a small inventor can't afford to sue a large corporation, while a large corporation can afford to sue anyone they please. Thus the small fellow gains no real protection, and the b